Finally!!!

Today was the day the granite was installed. Whooopeeee!!! Here's a sneak peek.

We decided to pay the company to rip out all of the old stuff. It was soooo loud. I honestly thought at one point that they got confused & were ripping out my cabinets too!

There's dust everywhere & they were really good about cleaning up their mess. Once they left, I swept & vacuumed & there is still a layer of dust. The back splash will be done tomorrow so I'm not worrying about doing anything else to the floor until he's finished. Incidentally, you see that blue where the back splash was? At first glance I thought that was some sort of board or something that the tile was attached too. After checking it out more closely I realized that was the color the kitchen was painted originally. UGH!!! Awful! The guy that built this house was newly divorced.  He ended up remarrying his ex wife & made her get rid of her dog so she made him paint the kitchen tan. They ended up divorced a second time. I can't imagine why......

Moving on. Friday after work I went to get new shoes. I was starting to have some lower back issues & I've had my shoes for a year. Even though I didn't run for 4 months I had a lot of miles on them. They brought out several pair for me to try based on my over pronating feet. Apparently, over pronating isn't really uncommon but it's not common enough for a variety of cute shoes to be made. The first pair I tried on were these Nike's.

OMG. Are these not the ugliest shoes you've ever seen?? See the swoosh? It's a mirror. Seriously. I kept thinking "please don't let these fit good, please don't let them be comfortable". Now, I know I don't have to buy ugly shoes but for once in my life I'm going comfort over cute. Thankfully, they were too big. Way too wide. Thank God for small favors!! I also tried on a pair of Saucony that were really comfy but they were too big & that shoe doesn't come in narrow. They were black & fuchsia! I ended up with the latest version of the Brooks Adrenaline that I had before. They didn't have the narrow width in the store so they had to order them for me & I picked them up today.

There's more grey & the blue is a little darker than my old pair. I've said before I wish they were pink but right now I'm just so thankful they don't look like those Nike's! I also mentioned awhile back that I was having sock problems. I know, I have the most random issues. As I said, my foot is narrow & because of this socks don't fit correctly. I always have a bunch of extra material down by my pinky toe & when I put my shoes on a bunch of extra material bunches up around my ankle area. Really aggravating. As luck would have it, I had worn flip flops to work Friday & forgot to bring socks. Varsity has a big box full of clean socks so I grabbed a pair so I could try on shoes. Well, it must have been fate. I picked up a pair of these.

The socks are (in the words of Guiliana Rancic - LOVE HER) AMAZEBALLS! They're like gloves for your feet. They fit amazing, there is NO excess material & they have that little tab that kinda goes above the back of your shoe. The brand is Feetures! I'd never heard of them. Now of course they're not cheap. Of course not. They're $8.95 per pair. I got 2 pair so I could try them out when I actually run. I'm in love. It was Good Friday when I was there & they had Easter eggs at the register with prizes in them. My prize was 20% off a shoe purchase. YAY!!! That paid for my socks. So today when I picked up my shoes I picked up another pair of socks.

I've been to Yoglates the last 2 days & it's been delightful. No crowd & I've been able to easily get my back row spot. I did realize today that when school is back in next week, not only will it be crowded & full of skinny Kardashian sounding Sorority girls, but they'll all be tan from laying out on the beach all week. THAT is going to annoy me. In case I haven't mentioned I'm white. Pasty white. In my younger, stupider days, I spent a lot of time in the tanning bed. Yes, I know, I know. I LOVE having a tan but I have to work hard at it. None of that awesome olive skin like my brother, Logan & Lydia all have. Sigh.

So, there will be more pics tomorrow once the back splash is installed.

Toodles!

NOT feeling it!

Today is one of those days. I did not want to get out of bed this morning. I do not want to go to Yoglates today. I just keep telling myself Yoglates is like work & I have to go. Besides, if I didn't go I'd be wasting a day of a not crowded studio with no Kardashian sounding sorority girls. I can't have that! Not to mention, I seriously need to go to class to attempt to undo what I did Sunday. You know German chocolate cake & coconut cake, among other things. Also, I may have had some leftover coconut cake last night & it's possible that I ate it right out of the Rubbermaid container. It's also entirely possible that I'll be having more of it tonight. The sooner I eat it, the sooner it's out of the house right?? Maybe Dean will eat it before I get home today. If not, maybe it will be my dinner. Did I mention I'm not weighing this week?

Something else I don't want to do but I have to is finish emptying my kitchen cabinets. The granite people said I should empty them because of all of the dust that's going to get everywhere. UGH! I emptied some last night. I have wine glasses all over the bathroom vanities in the Hollywood bath. Luckily, I can just take the drawers out & stack them in one of the extra rooms. Now would've been a great time to organize the cabinets but you know, I did that at the beginning of the year. Sigh.

The good news is that I have the next 2 days off work. I'll be home laying on a sofa reading & catching up on everything I've been recording on the DVR. The even better news is that by Friday, I'll have a different kitchen! It also means the hard work will need to start. I am painting the cabinets. I have to pick colors too. I can't decide what sort of finish I want either. Semi gloss? Egg shell? Oh the decisions......

Toodles!

Easter Weekend

Saturday morning I was up early to run a few errands. I'd ordered a German Chocolate cake from Ambrosia for my brother to have yesterday. His birthday is Friday & that's his fave. Ambrosia doesn't have a very good system. There's a line to stand in to pick up an order. My pickup time was 11:00. It was 10:55 when  it was my turn. A guy went to get my cake & came back empty handed. I was told that my cake wasn't ready & that I had an 11:00 pick up time. HUH?? There were a lot of people in line behind me that had the same pick up time & there's weren't ready either. Crazy! Well, there's another line you have to stand in to pay so I got in it so at least I wouldn't just be standing around. Before I could pay they called my name & gave me my cake. Funny, it was cold. How is it that it wasn't ready but it's cold now? I said, "oh, it was ready?" & the girl said "we thought you had a strawberry cake, those are the one's that aren't ready". I took my cake, paid & left but I was annoyed.

I've mentioned before how I'm not impressed with Target. Well, they disappointed me again. Before picking up the cake we stopped by so that I could pick up some Easter treats for Logan. There wasn't a plain M&M to be had in the store. Everything was so picked over. Yes, I know it was the day before Easter. We ended up leaving & the only thing I bought was an iced green tea from the Starbuck's that's in the store. YUM! I ended up at a Super Walmart later in the day. I really hate Super Walmart but this was a somewhat pleasant experience. They had plenty of candy & I picked up some chips & some movies & then I managed to walk right up to a checkout line that was just opening & I didn't have to wait. I figure I've used up all of my Walmart luck for the next year so I need to stay away.

Once I got home Dean & I worked outside. I went for a bike ride too. It was such a pretty day. I rode 4.26 miles. Then it was home to hang out on the patio listening to the LSU game & reading. Once the game was over Dean & I went to Fuzzy's Taco Shop to eat. I had the enchilada's. They were good. We'd only been to Fuzzy's once before but I like it a lot & it's close to home.

Sunday morning we were up early to go to 7:00 Mass & then home to get ready for our families. I picked up more tulips.

 

I thought the white ones were really pretty for Easter. 

As usual we had way too much food. Everything was so good! Ham, potato salad, cole slaw, pork loin, baked beans, rolls, deviled eggs & our neighbor brought over some of his amazing Risotto. He knows how much I like it so I have leftovers! Then there was the cake. My mom's coconut was amazing as usual & the german chocolate was delish too.

The Easter bunny visited my house Saturday night & left some goodies for Logan.

Excuse the bag, but the Easter bunny that visited my house didn't have her stuff together & waited too long to get a basket. He wasn't all that interested anyway because you know, the pool was right there & he just wanted to "swim in the water"! We tried to hold him off a bit because the water was only 80 which is cold & we figured once he got in no way was he getting out for lunch.

Dean bought him a fish at Academy Saturday. It's battery operated & swims all over the pool. Logan loved it! Needless to say we weren't successful in keeping him out.

He didn't mind the temp at all! 

We had a great day hanging out with our family. I hope you did too!

Toodles!

Good Friday

It would be a little better if I wasn't sitting at my desk at work & was running around Lowe's with Dean but that's not the way it is. Speaking of Lowe's, while he was there he was going to pick up some sealer for my granite & back splash. That's a project I'll be doing. What kind of sealers do y'all use? The back splash is tumbled travertine. I was told to use something for "natural stone". That was $85 a gallon. They were out of it & they also had something that said for marble, granite, travertine. It was $28 a gallon. What's the deal? Do I need to spend the $85?

I feel better today about the whole weight loss thing than I did yesterday. I'm wearing a smaller pair of pants I bought awhile back & they fit fine. I definitely need to measure myself. I went to Yoglates yesterday & to the guy that was next to me blowing his nose on his shirt....DON'T SIT BY ME & DO THAT!!!! Ugh, so gross! I have a week stomach when it comes to nose blowing & that just totally disgusted me. Hearing someone blow their nose first thing in the morning makes me nauseous. Always has.  There's a bathroom in the studio that people go to during class all the time. On a more pleasant note, yesterday was LSU's last day of school until the 16th. Spring break is a wonderful time of year for us. Yoglates won't be crowded with super skinny sorority girls that talk like the Kardashians & traffic will be soooo much better. See, we live about 3 miles from LSU & as long as school is in session traffic is bad. Really bad.

I was up at 4:45 this morning to go for my run. I'm sure Dean wasn't overly excited about the alarm going off at that time of the morning on his day off but I told him he could take a nap this afternoon if he needed. HA! Today I started Week 6 which was (2) 9 minute runs with a 3 minute walk in between. The temperature was great & I got through it. I've been thinking it's time for new running shoes & I definitely think that's the case after this morning. My lower back is bothering me. Nothing severe but I think new shoes will help. My next run is 20 mins. straight.

My tulips are still looking pretty but they've changed positions.

I love how tulips do this! Notice that black granite tile on the island. This time next week it won't be there. WOOO HOOO!!!!

Happy Good Friday!!

Toodles!

Frustrated!

Beyond belief. Seriously. This whole diet, eating right, change eating habits thing is annoying me. For the last several weeks I've bounced around between a couple of pounds. Back & forth, back & forth & it's driving me crazy. I haven't even been eating out much. I've been doing my 3 runs a week & yoglates 3 times a week. I upped my calories & that worked for a bit, then I lowered my calories when it didn't seem to be working. Not sure what to do next. THEN Sunday is Easter! Aside from the whole Religious meaning of the day (Yes, I KNOW that's the important part of the day), it also means Holiday at my house with waaayyy too much food. It also means that my mom is making one of my favorite cakes EVER that we haven't had in a long time - coconut cake. LOOOVVVVEEEE IT! Mrs. Joyce will make her ham, Dean is doing some big slab of meat on the Primo grill thing he bought, Lydia's making baked beans & bringing bread, my mom is also making deviled eggs & potato salad cause you know, we need more food & I'm making cole slaw. Do I have a plan as to how to not eat too much? No. My plan is to eat good the next few days & then try not to completely pig out Sunday & then get back on track Monday. Why does food have to be good?? Why can't it all just be plain & bland & of no interest to us except as fuel for our bodies? My life would be much easier if that were the case.

On a happier note, my granite counters & back splash will be installed next week. YAY!!! They came Monday & used this little laser contraption & took exact measurements. Now all the fabrication work takes place. The tear out & granite will be done Wednesday & the back splash Thursday. I have to take everything out of my cabinets before Wednesday. I'm not really looking forward to that or all the dust that will be everywhere.  Oh well, it's part of it. Next up will be picking paint for the cabinets. I always have a hard time with that.

Toodles!

Some Excitement

There was some excitement at Dean's parents house Monday. This was walking around in the their front yard & driveway.

No, you're not seeing things. It really is a 6 ft. alligator. Dean's parents live in Bayou Pigeon. For those of you that watch Swamp People, Bayou Pigeon should sound familiar. It's right down the road from Bayou Sorrel (you know, where Jr. & Willie live). As the name suggests, they do live on the bayou. It's not totally surprising to see a gator walking around but it's also not the norm. The very first time Dean brought me to his parents house we had to stop so an alligator could cross the road. I swear the whole time I was thinking "There really are places in Louisiana like in The Waterboy"! Dean swears that was the first & only time he'd ever seen that happen.  Mrs Joyce & Mr Andrew's neighbor spotted Mr. Gator first. She called her daughter & told her to "do something". They called the Game Warden. Normally, Dean's dad would take care of such matters but he'd gone fishing so he missed all the fun.

The Game Warden catching the gator. He'll release it somewhere. Lucky for the gator Mr. Andrew was fishing. Otherwise, there would be either fried alligator or an alligator sauce piquante cooking.  For those of you wondering & you know you are, yes I've eaten alligator before. Surprisingly, it isn't bad. It really does taste a lot like chicken.

Toodles!

I NEED my weekend back!

I feel like I'm on a never ending merry go round. Workout, go to work, eat, sleep, start over & then have 2 really quick days of doing other stuff like grocery shopping & then back on the merry go round. It's exhausting.  Have I ever mentioned how I hate grocery shopping? It goes along with my not liking to cook & hating the whole meal planning thing. Dean & I have this conversation every Sunday morning.

 D: What are we going to eat this week? Me: I don't know. Have you thought of anything?

Sometimes he has, sometimes he hasn't. We usually work it out where each of us comes up with something & then we have leftovers. Today I'm trying out a new crock pot recipe. It's called Santa Fe Chicken. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Anywho, Friday night Dean cooked Salmon on his new Primo cooker thing. It was delicious!! We had sweet potato fries with it. Which brings me to another complaint. (Yes, I'm full of them today). I thought sweet potato fries were healthier than regular fries? Apparently not when you buy them in the frozen food section. I bought some yesterday along with regular fries & the regular fries had less calories for the same serving size. I guess I need to suck it up & make my own.Oh well.  One of my friends in the neighborhood was having a CAbi party. I'd never heard of such a thing. It's clothes & they had some cute stuff but the prices?? WOW!!! Sorry, I don't pay $100 for a capri's. EVER. $118 for a sweater? NEVER EVER. It was fun visiting with everyone though.

Saturday I did some shopping with my mom. We didn't buy much but I did finally find the nail polish I'd been wanting.

It's called Re-Freshmint. We had lunch at Applebee's & had the most delicious club sandwich ever!!! We won't talk about the calories. UGH! Eating healthy isn't much fun.

Dean & I went to the LSU Baseball game Saturday night. It was a good game. LSU won in the bottom of the 9th 2-1. They ended up sweeping Arkansas which is a total surprise. Arkansas's supposed to be really good & while LSU is ranked, they don't appear to be good.

These brightened up my grocery shopping trip yesterday morning.

I LOVE tulips! They're my fave! They had these at the Walmart Neighborhood Market for $5.50. They started opening up not long after I put them in the water. I hope they last awhile.

I stayed home from the ballgame yesterday. I needed to re-stain my rocking chairs. I finished the stain but now I have to do the varnish. I'll have pics later.  It was HOT! When I finished that project I spent the rest of the afternoon here.

The water was actually warm enough to get in! We've never been in this early in the year. Very exciting!

I read while I was in the pool. I don't trust myself not to drop my Nook so I stuck it in a Ziploc bag. Worked like a charm!

Toodles!